Commit your way to the Lord, trust also in Him, and He shall
bring it to pass. —Psalm 37:5
CHAMBERS} “Don’t plan without God. God seems to have a
delightful way of upsetting the plans we have made, when we have not taken Him
into account. We get ourselves into circumstances that were not chosen by God,
and suddenly we realize that we have been making our plans without Him— that we
have not even considered Him to be a vital, living factor in the planning of
our lives. And yet the only thing that will keep us from even the possibility
of worrying is to bring God in as the greatest factor in all of our planning. In spiritual issues it is customary for us to
put God first, but we tend to think that it is inappropriate and unnecessary to
put Him first in the practical, everyday issues of our lives. […] Don’t plan
with a rainy day in mind. You cannot hoard things for a rainy day if you are
truly trusting Christ. Jesus said, “Let not your heart be troubled…” (John
14:1). God will not keep your heart from being troubled. It is a command— “Let
not….” To do it, continually pick yourself up, even if you fall a hundred and
one times a day, until you get into the habit of putting God first and planning
with Him in mind.”
{ELGIN} As I read the Chambers devotions in
preparation for comments in this BLOG I often have thoughts arise that are so
contrary to the ways of our culture. Ways or practices or attitudes about
certain things we would call common sense and being practical or responsible in
the “cradle of material affluence”. Often, my first response is often to dispel
them or at least water them down. But,
then, I am reminded of the nature of God.
(Isaiah 55:8) “"For my
thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares
the LORD.” It is curious that we can
take the practical things of the natural and kludge them on to the supernatural,
in the name of common sense. The necessity
of maintaining our lifestyle is an example.
The whole idea of retirement, for
the affluent, has become maintaining what we have into perpetuity (love that
word!) When it is time to retire, we want enough money coming in every month to
maintain the life we have grown accustomed to. (I mean what is wrong with
that?) We have an entire industry built
on that desire. That thinking is not a
problem for the poor.
After Hurricane Matthew, I made the comment about the devastation in Anse du Clerc saying. “The people of Haiti lost everything, much like the people on the Gulf Coast after Katrina, but they did not have as far to fall from something to nothing.” Having money and possessions is not a sin. Loving them and trusting in them for security more than we trust God is. It is hard to know when we have crossed that line. Like the parable of the man who wanted to build bigger barns (Luke 12:13-21). It seemed the reasonable thing to do, at least from the natural perspective. Now if what I am saying is disagreeable to you, I would caution you to examine your heart. (Luke 16:12-14) ““No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” The Pharisees, who loved money, heard all this and were sneering at Jesus.” So is it wrong to save for the future, I don’t think so. Just don’t let it become your god and cause you to say “no” when Jehovah God comes calling. Something to think about – and perhaps pray about
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